A New Soul
by Yuukinokai
Summary: A girl woke up in the Rukongai, not knowing who she is. Shuun, the first friend she made, left to become a shinigami. However, after losing news of him for a few decades, Alice decided to become a shinigami herself to find Shuun and eventually, find out about herself and why she was so gifted.
1. Prologue: The Beginning

**Prologue: The Beginning**

"Wake up," said a warm and welcoming voice. "You're not dead are you?"

As I open my eyes, I started seeing a blurry shadow in from of me. My head was hurting like crazy. After a few seconds, I was finally able to think clearly and my vision cleared up. In front of me was standing a red haired boy with small eyes, wearing some dirty and ripped clothes. Behind him, I saw a few timid children hiding behind a tree, looking at my direction.

"..." I tried to talk, but so sound could come out of my mouth.

"Are you alright?" asked the boy. "You must be new here."

"I..." After a little more struggle, I was finally able to make a sound. "Where am I?"

"This is the 61st district of Rukongai. You are in Soul Society, the place where souls go after death."

"After death? Does that mean that I'm dead?" I asked, trying to recall what had happened to me before I passed out. Without a success, my mind remained blank.

"You don't remember?"

I shook my head. There was nothing in my head. I did not even know who I was or what I looked like.

"Well that's odd. Anyways my name is Shuun and I and the leader of this gang," he said proudly while pointing at himself. "What's your name?"

"I can't remember," I said while lowering my head.

"That's ok," he said as he lent me a hand. "I'm sure you'll remember it later. Meanwhile, how about I call you Alice."

I took his hand and stood up.

That was the very first memory I had.


	2. Chapter 1: The Last Letter

**Chapter 1: The Last Letter**

"Alice-nee! Shuun-nii sent a letter!"

I walk out of our wooden hut and saw Amelia running towards us with a white letter in her hands. Her short black hair flew wildly in the wind as she came closer. Suddenly, she trips over a branch and fell.

"Are you alright?" I asked as I helped her up. Mika and Yuta also came out of the hut following me.

"I told you to stop running so fast," says Mika.

"Who cares about that? Let us see the letter!" shouted Yuta.

Many years have passed since I met Shuun. After he found me, we always lived together with the other kids in the wooden hut he built. From time to time, a new child would come, while another one would die. But it wasn't surprising. After all, Rukongai is the poor section of Soul Society and famine was an everyday reality everyone got used to. A few years ago, Shuun said that he had enough of this kind of life and left us to enrol in the Shinigami Academy. He promised he would write letter to keep us updated on him and send gifts from time to time.

Yuta tears the envelope open and we read it.  
"Hi, how's everyone doing? Today your big guy got promoted! Remember when I said I finally mastered my bankai? Well I recently got noticed by the captain commander and was made captain of the tenth division! I will try to visit you guys some time soon.  
Ps: Alice, don't disappoint me, you better do some work to get that flat chest of yours bigger."

As I read the last sentence, I snatch the letter from Yuta's hand and smash it before throwing it on the nearest tree, "YOU IDIOT!" I shouted.

"Meh Alice-nee! I didn't finish reading yet!" complained Amelia.

"It doesn't matter, it wasn't anything important."

Yuta and Mika gave me their "helpless" look. There were with Shuun when he first found me. Amelia, however, only came to Soul Society five years ago. She is the youngest of us all, and the cutest. Suddenly, we heard a loud sound coming from the neighbourhood. Curious we were, we decided to go take a look at what had happened. A big white masked monster was standing in the middle of the street, a hollow. It was chaos; people were all trying to run away, knocking over the sale stand of food. Quickly, the boys and I grabbed some tomatoes and fresh vegetables from the floor and began running. It was an opportunity for free food, not that I liked stealing or anything, but in this poor district, for orphans like us to find food, was like trying to find water in the desert. As we ran, Amelia tripped and fell. I turned back and wanted to grab her hand, but someone knocked me and I fell too. From a distance, I heard Mika and Yuta shouting our names, but it was impossible to stand back up with this crowd. That's when my heart almost stopped; the hollow was heading our direction and reached out for Amelia. I open my mouth to yell, but a red haired shinigami in a white robe jumped out and slashed the hollow down. He turned to face me and said, "I never thought my visit would be this soon. How are you doing, Alice?"

It was Shuun.

"You look good in your captain robe, you know," I complimented him.

"Shuun!" shouted Mika and Yuta, as they ran back.

"So this is the reason why you ran so fast," said an orange haired woman. She had the emblem of the 10th vice captain on her arm. "You were worried about your friends, captain."

"Not reall-"

Shuun never finished his sentence. Mika and Yuta bumped into him and hugged, so did Amelia. They then praised him on how strong he became in the few years he hasn't came back. Unfortunately, the reunion didn't last very long, for Shuun had other duties as a captain.

"You're still as flat as last time," he said to me as he pulled his tongue out at me before disappearing, using shunpo.

A vein popped out of my head and I shouted, not knowing if he could still hear it, "YOU IDIOT, DON'T COME BACK AGAIN!"

To be honest, I never meant it. Especially when Shuun stopped sending letters to us. The letter we received on that day was the last one ever.


	3. Chapter 2: The Decision

**Chapter 2: The Decision**

After that incident, Shuun disappeared from our lives for a few decades. Days after days, we waited for his news, but they never came. We waited like idiots, until the day another shinigami passed by our neighborhood. When he walked by, Yuta rushed out to ask him about the captain of the 10th division, Shuun Shinozaki. However, the shinigami's response was our biggest deception, "The captain of the 10th division is Hitsugaya Toushiro. I don't think there is anyone in Seireitei names Shinozaki."

"You gotta be kidding!" Yuta became agitated. "Then what happened to Shuun? He can't possibly d-"

"Don't say things that you know aren't true," interrupted Mika.

From that day on, the mood in the house was gloomier than ever. That's when Mika came up with an idea. Shinigamis have those book records of everyone who has died. If we were to get it in our hands, we would be able to confirm Shuun's status; however, to do so, we must follow his footsteps, and become a shinigami. From that day on, we collected information about the entrance exam for the shinigami Academy, such as the date and location. For the entrance exam, we simply had to show them that we had Reiatsu; Shuun did the same many years ago. I remember him practicing emitting his Reiatsu into a ball. Unfortunately, being poor as we are, our bodies could not get enough nutriments for it to develop Reiatsu, so we did not know what to do. On the day of the exam, we still went to the Seireitei gate, maybe then, we could find an opportunity to sneak in. When we arrived at the gate, many people were gathered there for the test. The air suddenly became hard to breathe and Mika, Yuta and Amelia fell on their knees. I then heard a voice from behind, saying, "Oh my, you can still stand in the presence of my Reiatsu? You're good." I turned around and saw a shinigami in a pink flowered robe. When I looked around, most people were on the ground too.

"This year, we decided to use a quick selective method," said the shinigami. "Those who are still standing can follow me inside."

I looked at my friends. They had fear in their eyes and could not move an inch. I did not know what to do, but Mika managed to say, "G...go..." After all, this is our only way to find Shuun. I turned my back on them and walked in Seireitei with the other people. I thought I had no Reiatsu, but it seemed like I was wrong.

Once we arrived at the shinigami Academy building, the shinigami presented himself, "Congratulations on passing the entrance exam. I am Kyoraku Shunsui, captain of the 8th division. From today on, please get to know your fellow students and enjoy yourselves." When he finished talking, we walked inside.

After a guided visit of the Academy, we were given some new clothes. We were ordered to change into it for the opening ceremony. I obeyed, like the other new students. The clothes were finely made, better than anything I had ever worn before. At the opening ceremony, they mainly gave a speech on the rules and the ethics, which I did not listen. The only thing on my mind was how my friends were doing out in the Rukongai. I was worried. Were they able to get home safely? What about food? After the ceremony, we ate diner, and that concluded my first day at the Academy.

"Reiatsu comes from your soul... and that concludes my lecture. Now, please try and feel your Reiatsu," said the teacher on my first class. He gave a lecture about how to feel our Reiatsu, but I did not understand anything. The students next to me began trying it out; they emitted some sort of weird aura. Only I stood there, not knowing what to do. The teacher began scolding me, blaming on the fact that I did not listen to his lecture. Seriously, if I could feel my Reiatsu, I would have done that in the Rukongai with my friends.

"My, my, don't be this harsh on the first day, I'll teach her," Captain Kyoraku interrupted the scolding. "I will transmit my spiritual power to you; it should be easier for you to feel it this way."

He touched my shoulder and I felt a strange aura floating in me. I tried controlling it, imagining that it was water and that I could control its flow. Rapidly, I was able to make a ball of energy, like Shuun used to do. The captain in front of me looked surprised, but didn't say anything. He simply smiled, pulled his hat on his eyes and walked away. With this, it meant that I officially had Reiatsu and could be a shinigami.

I was one step closer to Shuun.

My decision was rock solid. I will find out what happened to him. Not only will I do it for Mika, Yuta and Amelia, but I will do it for myself as well.


	4. Chapter 3: The First Friend

**Chapter 3: The First Friend**

A few weeks passed and I gradually got used to the school. Though, sometimes, I still think about Amelia and the boys. The funny thing is, apparently, I had a talent for anything shinigami related. My Reiatsu control was perfect and I had a natural talent for kido, this is what every instructor told me. I didn't really know why, but, maybe, I'm just a fast learner. Anyways, this way I can graduate quicker and continue my search on Shuun. For now, this was my goal.

"Look who's here," mocked an older student, walking past me. "The first year's little prodigy."

The guy was tall and was probably in one of his last years in the Academy, because of the zanpakuto attacked to his belt. After passing two exams, the students could finally be gifted a weapon and start kendo. The upperclassman approached me to an uncomfortable level of closeness and teased me, "Say, do you really have this much talent? Are you sure you aren't simply cheating, just to have a reputation for yourself?" He laughed out loud. Honestly, he really got on my nerves; I would have picked a fight with him, if not for the fear of his blade.

"Hey you!" said a female voice. "Stop that!"

The unpleasant student and I both looked at the direction of the newcomer. She was a black haired girl around my height, also with a zanpakuto attached to her belt. The male upperclassman's mood changed drastically and immediately took a step back and mumbled before walking away, "Tch, it's that Kuchiki bitch. I better stay away from her."

After he left, the girl talked to me, "Are you Alice? I've heard about you, the new prodigy." She smiled and appeared to be really excited.

"Y-yes I am. Thank you for helping me, senpai!" I bowed in gratitude.

"Don't mention it, the pleasure is all mine." She paused and suddenly ran away, "Oh no! I'm going to be late to class! See you later, Alice!"

"Y-yeah," I mumbled as she was already too far away from me to hear it. I didn't even ask for her name.

This afternoon, an instructor called me to his office and told me I was ready to take my first exam. I couldn't describe how surprised I was. Normally, the first exam was something you take after two years at the Academy. Taking it after only two months was a first. I wanted to refuse, but I realized that passing this exam as soon as possible would get me one step closer to Shuun. So I accepted. After all, I was pretty advanced compared to the others who enrolled at the same time as I did; I did some self study and already learned two times as much kido spells as the others. He made me do the exam and surprisingly enough, I passed with a high grade.

As I walked out of the examination room, rumours about me passing the exam were already spreading around. I walked in the hallway looking at my feet. Not that I was antisocial or anything, but I had been having a hard time making friends. I put the blame on captain Kyoraku. When he helped me on the first day of class, I was classified "special," and no one dared coming near me. From time to time, jealous people would come and intimate me a little, but honestly, I couldn't care less. Today, when that girl helped me, I felt happy for the first time in a long while. I should've asked for her name.

The next morning, as I walk in the cafeteria, I spotted the girl who helped me yesterday eating alone. I sat down next to her and started a conversation, "Hi!"

"Hi," she said, paused then suddenly recognized me. "Oh you're Alice!"

"Yes, thank you for standing up for me yesterday, can I ask what your name is."

"Sure! I'm Kuchiki Rukia, a sixth year at the shinigami Academy."

"Kuchiki? That is one of the four noble families right?"

"Yeah, but I was adopted. I grew up in the Rukongai."

"That's awesome. How lucky! But why are you eating alone? Where are your friends?"

Her expression suddenly darkened and she looked away, "You see, ever since I have been adopted, they found me hard to talk to, so no one really dares to approach me..."

My eyes widened, she was in the same situation as me! Perhaps this was why I was so happy meeting her. Did I felt that she was similar to me? I was overwhelmed with joy, "I'm the same as you. Perhaps, if you don't mind, could I eat with you next time too?"

"That won't be possible," she said, patting my head. "I'm graduating tomorrow. But if you want, I can treat you to lunch after you graduate. Being the prodigy that you are, it probably won't take you more than two years."

How did I forget about the graduation? She was a sixth year. Of course she would graduate soon. I felt so stupid and wanted to dig a hole and hide underground. I sadly congratulated her, trying to hide my disappointment.

I considered Rukia the first friend I made in Seireitei. Even if she were to graduate tomorrow, I was sure we would be able to meet later.


	5. Chapter 4: The Zanpakuto

**Chapter 4: The Zanpakuto**

After the day Rukia graduated, I continued my hard work and prepared for my second exam. However, I had a hard time for this one. It was about the rules and theory information on shinigamis. I was not really interested in those irrelevant facts. It took me two years to learn and remember everything. It was quite disappointing; considering it only took me two months to complete my first exam. After the second exam, I finally received my zanpakuto and was ready for kendo. Luckily, I was pretty gifted for it too.

Kendo itself is not really hard, you just have to read the opponent's movements and counter them. I could easily predict other people's movement. It was like breading for me. Passing this last exam was a piece of cake.

After passing the last exam, you had to take a month of internship and finally, you would be assigned to a division in Seireitei. For the internship, you simply had to patrol the streets in Rukongai and fight hollows. On the last week of internship, we had to patrol the 61th district, so I decided to slack off and return home; I wanted to see my friends.  
As I walk in our wooden house, Amelia welcomed me warmly, "Alice-nee! I missed you so much! Plus, you never send us letter like Shuun-nii did."

"That's true," said Mika. "Alice, you should keep in touch with us, otherwise we will only worry."

"Sorry," I said. "But letters aren't really my thing and I still don't know how to send them."

That was a half lie; I simply forgot to even find a way to send letters.

"Hey you! What are you doing?" someone called out to me. It was the vice captain of the second division, Marechiyo Omaeda. "Stop slacking off and go back to duty!"

"Ouch, I got caught," I complained as I waved goodbye to my friends and ran back to the group.

After a while of walking, we felt an important spiritual presence; a horde of hollow. We ran to the location of the presence and we were stunned. There were six or seven huge hollows. For trainees like us to defeat them, was simply absolutely impossible. My classmates backed up, but I did not.

"No way," someone said.

"T-this is not supposed to happen," said Omaeda. "Hollows normally don't appear in hordes. I need to call backup!"

Honestly, he really was not reliable. When he said this, everyone panicked and started running. It attracted the hollows' attention and it started running after them. For some reason, I didn't feel fear. I simple stood there calmly and dissipated my presence. The hollow went right past me, and caught a girl named Saki. She cried for help, but no one dared coming near the monsters. I jumped from behind and slashed my zanpakuto at the giant thing. It didn't even feel it. So I repeated my action over and over until it reacted; suddenly, it turned around and slapped me aside. I hit a tree and saw my life flash in front of me.

"What a disgrace," a voice spoke in my mind. "Losing to those weak things." Who said this? Is this my own thought? Or...

Suddenly, the hollow slapped me again and I got threw again even farther. Some people called out my name, but I couldn't really feel it. I was losing consciousness.

"Call my name," said the voice in my head. "I know you know it. Just say my name."

Its name? Wait. Whose name? I concentrated and a vague shadow appeared. It had the form of a circle of light. K. Kagami. Yes. Kagami.

That's when my whole body was filled with light. I felt power coming from my zanpakuto. When I looked at it, it wasn't the katana I knew; instead it was a long sword with a large metal circle near the grip. At the end of grip, there was a long metal chain. I realized what this was: my shikai.

Then, the hollow came to attack me again, but my zanpakuto flashed and the attack was absorbed. Again and again it absorbed power, until it started flashing. At that moment, I slashed down and the hollow got exploded. Free from the catch, Saki started falling. Someone caught her. She had black hair and was wearing a white robe with "2" written on the back. It was captain Soi Fong of the second division.

She put Saki on the ground and walked towards me. The other hollows all had their attention on us. It started approaching, but all fell to their demise. Other members of squad 2 were here and took care of them. Captain Soi Fong came to me and said,

"Good job protecting your classmate. You have a wonderful zanpakuto there."

* * *

 **Thank you for reading my fanfic. I'm really happy that I had already more than 100 views XD**

 **If you liked it, please leave a review to let me know and don't forget to favorite and follow :)**

 **hardoraku: Thank you for the follow :)**

 **Mr Name: Thank you, that's really appreciated xD**


	6. Chapter 5: The Sixth Division

**Chapter 5: The Sixth Division**

The rest of the internship went without incidents. The only thing I had to do now was waiting for the Gotei 13 to assign me a division. The report was supposed to come this afternoon. I waited in the hall with everyone when Saki walked up to me, "Alice. Sorry for being so late, but thank you for saving me!"

She bowed and ran away. I didn't even have time to say "you're welcome."

The instructors walked in the room, with a paper in hand. It was the list of our assigned division. As the whole room went silence, he read out loud our names and our assigned division. I patiently waited for my name to be called out, but it never did. At the end, when everyone already had their division assigned, he came up to me and told him to follow him to his office. I did as I was told and in his office, there was a man with long white hair. He was wearing a white cap with "13" on his back; he was Ukitake Juushiro.

"Hi," he said as he saw me. "You must be Alice. I've heard a lot from you. Apparently, you already developed your Shikai?"

"Y-yes! It's an honour to meet you. May I ask you what you are expecting from me?"

"Yes, let's get down to business. When I heard there was a skilled shinigami who was graduating soon, I wanted to recruit her as my vice-captain."

"A vice-captain? I can't possibly be good enough for that!"

"Don't underestimate yourself." He said, patting my head. "At this rate, you will have your bankai in no time. Plus, I was looking for a reliable vice-captain for a while now."

"If you don't mind me asking, why won't you have a vice-captain?"

His face darkened and he answered, "He died, killed by a hollow in battle." As he saw my face sadden, he quickly added, "Don't worry. That kind of thing doesn't happen often, you will probably be fine!"

"I'm not afraid for myself. Just sorry for you."

"Thank you. You are very kind."

After an awkward moment of silence, I said, "Ukitake Captain, please give me some time to think about the position."

He nodded and left with the instructor so I could be alone. Being a vice-captain could most certainly help me in my search for Shuun; however, it also meant more responsibilities and devotement. What if I become so busy that I can't look for Shuun's file and what will happen after I find him? After all, I had never planned staying in Seireitei for the rest of my life. I walk out of the room and saw the captain waiting for my answer. I bowed and politely refused his offer. He looked quite disappointed, but didn't add anything. When he left, my teacher told me, "To refuse such a high position, you're the first one to do it. Now, you will go to your assigned division after graduation, the sixth one, under Captain Kuchiki's leadership." Captain Kuchiki? Was he related to Rukia? Perhaps he was the one who adopted her.

On the day of the graduation, the teachers did a long speech and we were given a new shinigami kimono before being dismissed. The other members assigned to the sixth division and I walked to our barrack together. We were greeted by the captain himself at the door and were lead inside. I noticed how he had no vice-captain at his side. We were assigned to a room and were told to rest for the remaining time. Every other newbie went to socialise with the old members, but I didn't know what to do. So I wanted to go in my room, but someone stopped me at my door, "To think my neighbor would be that little prodigy. Alice right? Nice to meet you, I'm Abarai Renji."

I looked at him and the first thing that I noticed was his red hair, tied up high on his head. He was also wearing a bandana on his forehead, hiding a row of tattoo. Seeing how I was not answering, he continued, "How boring. Don't you have anything to say?" Silence.

To break this awkwardness, he added, "Is that hair of yours natural colored? We don't see any silver hair around here. Of course, there's captain Hitsugaya and captain Ukitake with white hair, but silver to a point of shininess, it's a first."

I often had people commenting on my hair, so I was already used to it. I simply silently stood there, staring at him, until he got a little embarrassed and said, "I know, come with me."

I followed him and we walked to the tenth division barrack.

"Hey!" he yelled as he slammed open the front door. "Rangiku! Bring some sake! Let's show this little thing not to be so shy."

"Renji!" said a woman with orange hair. I suddenly recognized her. She was the shinigami who came with Shuun the last time he visited us. "Oh my, this is Alice, the little prodigy? Huh? Have we met somewhere before?"

I did not know what to say. Should I tell her everything about Shuun and myself? Would she be able to help me? I decided to feint ignorance for now. After all, I was assigned to the sixth division; I will start my search there. I only hope I won't regret my choice.

* * *

 **IchibanTaichou: Thank you for favorite and review! I will try to do my best xD**

 **Zeriame: Thank you for favorite and follow :)**


	7. Chapter 6: The Fun Begins

**Thank you for the review and favirote/follow**

 **This may be the 6th chapter, but I already have 8 chapters written. For now, I will post one per week.**

* * *

 **Chapter 6: The Fun Begins**

Matsumoto Rangiku, vice-captain of the tenth division, turned out to be a really interesting woman. Renji took me to see her because he thought I would be less shy around her. He wasn't wrong. With her cheerful personality, it wasn't possible to be awkward.

"Come on Alice," she said, bringing a bottle of sake to my mouth. "Drink up!"

I tried to push her away with all my strength, "I don't drink!"

Meanwhile, Renji was laughing at us, "Oh come on girls!"

"What are you guys doing," interrupted a short boy. But when I look at him closely, I realize that he was the captain of the tenth division, Hitsugaya Toushiro.

I immediately stopped smiling and became rigid. But Rangiku doesn't react the same way I did, "Come on Captain! Don't ruin the fun! Look, Alice-chan is all intimidated now!"

"So you're Alice? The prodigy who managed to find her shikai during the internship?" He looked at me closely, as if he was analysing me. I did not like to be watched like this. As if he understood my thought, he turned to Rangiku and said, "Matsumoto, this isn't an excuse to slack off. Have you finished your paperwork?"

"Aw come on Captain! We have to celebrate Alice-chan's graduation! Let's party!"

"Why are you so happy? It's not like she graduated into the tenth division."

"But..." Rangiku still wanted to complain, but she was out of words. She simply made a sulking face and stared at her captain. It was quite funny. If every captain and vice-captain relationship was like this, it would most certainly be really fun.

"Excuse us, Hitsugaya Captain," bowed Rengi. "We will be leaving now."

"Already?" said Rangiku. "But the party hasn't ended yet!"

"It's ok," I said, smiling. "It was fun, thank you Matsumoto vice-captain."

"No need to be so formal," she replied. "Just call me Rangiku."

"O-okay!"

As we leave, Hitsugaya started scolding Rangiku again, but he took time to say a polite goodbye. On our way back to the sixth division barrack, I thanked Renji, "Thank you, Renji."

"For what?" he asked, smirking. "I didn't do anything."

What a liar. He knew exactly what he did. When all the new members of the division socialized with each other, I was alone. I never wanted to be alone, but with those three years I passed isolated in the shinigami Academy, making friends became my weakness. And I'm sure Renji felt it when he saw me. He felt my loneliness. Perhaps, it was because he knew someone in the same shoes as me, so he could tell.

When we got back to the tenth division, it was dinner time. I sat next to Renji and noticed how popular he was among the division members. People all talked to him, saying casual things like, "How's it going Abarai!" I sat there silently not knowing what to do, but Renji presented me to everyone, "Hey look. Our squad got the prodigy. Isn't this cool?"

And I was forced to do an awkward smile.

Fortunately enough, everyone was really nice. They actually dared talking to me. They wanted to know how I achieved Shikai and wanted training tips. I simply laughed and shrugged. I honestly didn't know how I did it. After this episode, they realized I wasn't as hard to talk to as they thought. We had a good talk and called it a day. The next day, we were told by Captain Kuchiki to walk around and get to know Seireitei. As I was walking, someone stopped me, "Hey Alice!" said a shinigami named Makoto. "You wanted to know how to send a letter to your friends in the Rukongai right? I got a messenger for you."

Yesterday, as were all talking, I mentioned my friends out in the Rukongai and how they wanted news of me. This girl Makoto told me she would take care of it. So I gave my letter to the messenger and sent my first letter.

In my letter, I mentioned everything about the sixth division and how fun it was. People were easier to talk to than I thought. I simply had to take the first step and step out of my comfort zone. But that comfort zone is often the only place you want to be, so taking the first step requires a lot more courage than expected. I just hope the fun continues.

* * *

 **Idek1998: Thanks for following the story :)**

 **IchibanTaichou: yeah I thought about that too, to be honest, I just don't want them to talk about him now.**


	8. Chapter 7: The New Vice-Captain

Chapter 7: The New Vice-Captain

As time passed, I did my job as a shinigami, but I never saw Rukia and never really found out anything about Shuun. I looked in every division's library for the file, but never found it. The closest I got to it was when I was in the 13th division's library. As I looked through every book, Captain Ukitake noticed me and came to talk to me, "Alice! It has been a while hasn't it?"

"Good morning Captain Ukitake. I heard that you still haven't found a vice-captain. I sorry for not filling out the spot..."

"Don't worry about it! My third, fourth and fifth seats are doing the jo-" he suddenly started coughing.

"Are you alright, sir?" I worried.

"Don't worry. I have always been sick. It's nothing important. More importantly, what are you looking for?"

"For the list of everyone that had died as a shinigami," I answered. "I am looking for a certain name in it."

"You won't find that here. In the central 46. I doubt you will ever be allowed to see it though, for it is extremely well guarded."

I never thought it would be in central 46. With this, my search hit the highest wall possible. Not anyone could get in central 46. If I were the captain comander, maybe. But I wasn't and will probably never be. Seeing my troubled expression, Captain Ukitake proposed his help, "If you tell me the name of the person you are looking for, maybe I can help you?"

"His name is Shuun Shinozaki," I said after a moment of hesitation.

"Oh Captain Shinozaki? To think that someone would be looking for him..."

My eyes widdened as he said those words, "You know him, sir?"

"Yes I know. But unfortunately, I can't help you. Captain Shinozaki disapeared many years ago. No one knows what happened."

I bowed and thanked him for the information. As I the 13th division, my head was filled with questions. How was that possible that a captain disapeared without anyone knowing? What exactly happened to Shuun? Perhaps it was time for me to have a talk with Rangiku, for she was probably the closest person to Shuun in the Seireitei.

I walked to the 10th division and saw Rangiku, once again, slacking off, eating rice cakes.

"Hey Alice!" she noticed me. "What brings you here?"

"Rangiku, I want to ask you a question, if you don't mind."

"Sure! Go ahead!"

"Do you know Shuun Shinozaki? He used to be captain of the 10th division."

She looked surprised and her jaw dropped wide open, "Captain Shinozaki? No one has talked to me about him for so long."

She looked pained and sad. It probably couldn't mean anything good. I lower my head and waited for more.

"He used to be a good captain," she said. "He chose me as the vice-captain. But who knew he would just disapear like this."

"So he simply disapeared?" I asked.

"You... Could you be one of his friends from the Rukongai?" she pointed out.

"Yes. Shuun and I were from the same place."

"I see. So that's why you looked familiar when I first saw you."

We talked a bit more about Shuun; how he used to be and the things he used to do. I think it did some good to both of us. Through our conversation, one could feel that we both missed him. After a while, I thanked her for the talk and headed back to my own division. This morning, the captain told us to be back at 4, for he was going to make an important announcement. When I got back, it was 15 minutes before the said time. I had a small talk with Renji and some other people and finaly, captain Kuchiki walked in.

As soon as he walked in, everyone went silent and got onto our usual straight lines. The lines were formed by placing every division member in height order. With my rather short body, I was placed at the front. So the captain waited for us to finish lining up before anouncing, "I have finally chosen candidates for the vice-captain position, Alice and Abarai. I would need the two to come to an understanding of which one should be the vice-captain. And if they can't decide, it shall be decided with a duel."

Renji and I? People sarted whispering about this. I turned my head at my friend's direction. He was looking at me with determined eyes, meaning he wasn't going to give up on this spot so easily. But it was just fine with me. As I had already mentioned before, the position of vice-captain never really interested me. So bowed and decline the offer. With this, Renji was promoted to our division's vice-captain.


	9. Chapter 8: The Prisoner

**Thank you for reading this story .**

 **I really appreciate it!**

 **Btw I reached 400 views in such a short time! Thank you!**

* * *

 **Chapter 8: The Prisoner**

Shortly after Renji's promotion and I learned about Shuun's disappearance. I asked for a two month break from my job as a shinigami. Now that my hope to find Shuun was nearly inexistent, I wanted to go home and talk about it with my friends. I walked to the captain's office and had him stamp my dismissal letter. As I was on my way to the Rukongai, I walked by the Kuchiki mansion and I took a peek inside. I wonder why I haven't seen Rukia since her graduation. She even promised me to treat me to dinner. What a shame. As I walk into the old rural house, I notice there was one new person; a little boy with black hair and dark eyes.

"Hey Alice!" Yuta greeted me. "Why are you back this time?"

"Don't be so cold," said Mika. "It's an opportunity for Sean so get to know her."

The new kid's name was Sean. He was a sweat little kid like Mika and unlike Yuta and Shuun. I told everyone about the information about Shuun I heard. When I finished talking, Amelia started crying, "Shuun-ni is dead!"

"Maybe not," said Mika.

I looked at him, so did Yuta. He was in deep thoughts. We knew it seeing him look at the ground and having two fingers on his chin. Every time he was thinking, he would do this pose.

"What do you mean, Mika?" asked Yuta.

"Everyone simply said that he disappeared right? No one really confirmed his death. Plus, he was a captain. Normally, when a captain dies, everyone would be invited to his funerals. The fact that no one knows where he is might be a good sign."

"Then what can possibly have happened to him?" I asked eager to hear his reasoning.

"The first possibility is him having done a sin as the captain and has been held prisoner. There is also a possibility of him being exiled from Seireitei. Anyways we cannot conclude that he died."

"That's Mika for you!" said Yuta, tapping Mika on the back. "That brain is still as sharp as ever."

"That is only a logical reasoning. You are just too much of an idiot to think about it." "Shut up!"

Well even if Mika strongly suggested that I return to my shinigami job, I declined. I didn't take these two months off for nothing! I wanted to stay in Rukongai a little bit more, so I did. Those two months, I lived them carefree and happily. After all, there is no place like home. One day, I was wandering in the street with Amelia when something fell off from the sky. We were curious, but it fell quite far from or house. Amelia cringed to me and insisted I use shunpo to go check it out. I couldn't refuse her. When we arrived, we saw Jindanbo, wounded, and a weirdly clothed girl healing her with an orange thing.

"Are you from the mortal world?" asked Amelia to the unknown girl without giving me the opportunity to stop her. "Your clothes are not from Soul Society."

"Wah! So cute!" The orange haired girl said. "And your right! My friends and I are not from here. By the way, I'm Orihime Inoue! What's you name sweetie?"

"Amelia!" she answered, as I look at the bunch of people standing behind Orihime. There were two other weirdly dressed guys, a cat and a shinigami. What was a shinigami doing here?

"Hey you!" said the shinigami.

He was looking at my direction, but I did not know him, so I looked around to see if there was anyone behind me. Seeing there was none, I asked, "A-are you talking to me?"

"Yes," he answered. "My name is Kurosaki Ichigo. We are looking for a way to enter Seireitei. Can you help us?"

"Kurosaki-san? I'm sorry, but Seireitei is not accessible to just anyone. I'm afraid that the only way to enter it is with a captain's permission."

"Oh, I see," he said, looking disappointed. I didn't know what to say to cheer him up, so I simply stayed silent, until, to my biggest surprise, the cat started talking, "Is your name Alice?"

"H-how do you know my name?" I asked, bewildered.

"You look exactly like he described..." it whispered.

"What?" I asked, not sure about what I really heard.

"Nothing, it's a long story."

I wanted to ask more, but a black butterfly stopped on my shoulder. I immediately knew what it was, a hell butterfly. Shinigamis use it to send messages among themselves. Sometime told me that this butterfly came from the 6th division, and I was right, "Hey Alice! Come back right now! We need you."

It was Renji calling me back for an emergency. I explain the situation to Amelia and ask her if she will be alright by herself.

"Don't worry Alice-nee. I might be young, but not young to the point that I can't go home alone. Just go do your job and I'll do mine."

Even though I just can't worry enough about her, I left Amelia and returned to Seireitei. There, I saw Renji waiting for me. He explained to me the situation, "There will be an execution in two weeks. The criminal passed on her shinigami powers to a human. Every squad is required to participate in the preparations. The reason we had come back is we need more people to patrol. Some Ryokas have entered Soul Society in order to save the criminal." However, as he talked, the only thing I concentrated on was the pained expression on his face. He looked like he was regretting something. It was my first time seeing him like this. I was worried, but also very curious about what could possibly chagrined my friend, "Renji, are you alright? You look sad..."

"Me? I'm fine..." he answered. But I looked him straight in the eye. I would do this every time I wanted an honest answer and he knew it. "The prisoner, she used to be my best friend. I just don't know what to do anymore."

"What's her name?" I asked. However, his answer stroke me like lightning and I stopped breathing, " _Rukia Kuchiki_."

* * *

 **kurayamitenshi25: Thank you for the favorite**


End file.
